C2 · 37 words

Respiratory medicine

The lung, measured rather than described.

One plain-looking noun on this list leads three lives, and only one of them belongs on a chest ward. Der Auswurf comes from auswerfen, to throw out, and it names whatever has been thrown. On the ward that is sputum: Haben Sie Auswurf? is the standard question, and the answer is described by colour, amount and how hard it is to bring up. In a geology book the same word is what a volcano ejects, ash and rock together. And in contempt, der Auswurf der Menschheit is the scum of the earth — a phrase that makes the clinical sense sound harsher to a German ear than it is. The verb a patient uses for it is not auswerfen but abhusten. The rest of the list is measurement: volumes, pressures and ratios, and the sounds a stethoscope picks up. These pages explain words and give no medical advice.

The words

Verb (4)

auskultierento auscultateVerbC2

Die Ärztin auskultiert Vorder- und Rückseite, bevor sie etwas sagt.The doctor listens to the front and back of the chest before she says anything.

No ge- in the participle: auskultiert.

abhorchento listen to (the chest, everyday word)VerbC1

Der Hausarzt hat mich abgehorcht und nichts gefunden.My GP listened to my chest and found nothing.

Separable; takes a direct object: jemanden abhorchen.

abhustento cough upVerbC2

Den zähen Schleim kann sie kaum abhusten.She can hardly cough up the sticky mucus.

Separable: sie hustet ab, sie hat abgehustet.

paffento puff (without inhaling)VerbC1

Er behauptet, er paffe nur und atme den Rauch gar nicht ein.He claims he only puffs and never takes the smoke down.

This list belongs to The body, health and care — 46 lists and 1708 words that can also be practised as a whole.

Practise this list

Multiple choice and gaps, drawn from exactly these 37 words. Whatever you get wrong comes back tomorrow.